Today's Paper
» SPORT

Chennai’s chances of playing host bleak

In the wake of reports that New Delhi or Chennai may be chosen as the venue for India’s World Group playoff against Serbia from September 12 to 14, the chances of Tamil Nadu’s capital city hosting the tie are not bright.

Rotation policy

“The AITA (All India Tennis Association), for a year now, has opted for a rotation policy to decide on the venue,” said C.B.N. Reddy, secretary, Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).

“We believe it’s a good policy. So if an association like Kolkata, which has not hosted the Davis Cup for sometime now, expresses interest, they will get it.”

India last played a Davis Cup tie here in 2010 when it beat Brazil 3-2. The tie had come to Chennai after a gap of 31 years at that point.

Stadium getting facelift

Also, the stadium in Chennai is currently undergoing a facelift for which Rs. 4.5 crore has been sanctioned by the state government. It is expected to be completed only in early August.

“The government will hand the stadium over to us only on 31st July,” said Reddy.

“The tie is in the second week of September. There might also be the thing that we will be cutting it too fine. So we will see (what can be done).”

The SDAT Nungambakkam stadium was mooted as an option, in addition to New Delhi’s, as its courts — though considerably faster than the ones in Delhi — would suit India’s top-ranked player Somdev Devvarman’s retrieval game.

Devvarman won a Challenger in Delhi and reached the semifinal of another in Chennai early this year.

The venue and the courts for the tie are expected to be finalised in consultation with the players and coaches later this month.